Apple flounces out of US Chamber on greenhouse gases

Cult on climate change

Apple has resigned from the US Chamber of Commerce due to the American business organization's criticism of efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

"Apple is committed to protecting the environment and the communities in which we operate around the world," reads a letter to Chamber president Thomas J. Donohue from Apple vice president Catherine Novelli. "As a company we are working hard to reduce our own greenhouse gas emissions by relying on renewable energy at our facilities and designing more energy-efficient products for our customers...

"For those companies who cannot or will not do the same, Apple supports regulating greenhouse gas emissions, and it is frustrating to find the Chamber at odds with us in this effort."

Apple is just the latest in a long line of US companies to resign from the Chamber over its stance on climate change. Last week, Chamber president Thomas J. Donohue released a statement seeking to clarify its stance. But although Donohue said the Chamber supported "strong federal legislation and a binding international agreement to reduce carbon emissions and address climate change," he criticized a bill passed by the US House of Representatives earlier this year.

"We oppose [the bill] because it is neither comprehensive nor international, and it falls short on moving renewable and alternative technologies into the marketplace and enabling our transition to a lower carbon future," Donohue said. "It would also impose carbon tariffs on goods imported into the United States, a move that would almost certainly spur retaliation from global trading partners."

And this, it seems, has not gone down well with Apple. "We would prefer that the Chamber take a more progressive stance on this critical issue and play a constructive role in addressing the climate crisis. However, because of the Chamber's position differs so sharply with Apple's, we have decided to resign out membership effective immediately."

In late September, prior to Donohue's comments, Apple overhauled its environmental website in an effort to show it's working to reduce the impact of its product on God's green earth, providing gobs of data on the Cupertino cult's annual carbon emissions. Many have criticized the cult for emitting more stuff than the likes of Dell and HP. ®